WARWICK District Council is working to get its housing stock in order following a damning report.
The council, along with two other local authorities in England, were singled out for criticism after the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH) discovered serious failings.
WDC, which let and manage over 5,500 homes, self-referred to the RSH after a raft of issues came to light.
They included 1,600 overdue fire safety actions which needed tackling urgently, and no proof it was meeting legal requirements for carbon monoxide safety.
WDC also reported it had not carried out a full stock condition survey since 2016 and, though surveys have now restarted, inaccuracies had been identified by the council in the new data.
RSH’s investigation’s also found WDC did not have adequate systems in place to deliver an efficient repairs service for tenants, nor was it recording or responding to complaints effectively.
Kate Dodsworth, chief of regulatory engagement at RSH, said: “It is the responsibility of the landlord to take a proactive approach to providing safe and decent homes for tenants. Health and safety must be a top priority and keeping up-to-date, accurate data is a key part of this .
“We are working constructively with all three local authorities as they put things right for their tenants.”
WDC’s housing and assets, spokeswoman Coun Helen Adkins put the blame firmly on the previous administrations and said progress was now being made to address the issues uncovered.
She said: “Since taking office in May 2023, the Green-Labour administration has uncovered serious and long-standing issues within Warwick District Council’s housing and assets policies and procedures that had not previously been addressed.
“The gravity of the situation became undeniable through several independent reports over the past 12 months, culminating in a regulatory judgement (made by RSH in September) that highlighted deep-rooted problems.
“Despite the severity of these findings, council officers have moved swiftly to implement corrective measures, demonstrating a commitment to overhaul the housing system.”
“Over the last 12 months, we’ve been working hard to address the huge number of issues left by previous administrations.
“We are prioritising a major restructure of how the council operates in this area, to be sharper, more effective, with clear lines of responsibility. To this end we, as an administration, are developing a new housing strategy. This strategy will reassure our tenants that all regulatory standards are fully met. ”
WDC leader Ian Davison added that while officers were working hard to address the issues, he expected it would take another two years to rebuild the council’s housing processes to provide “a high-quality service for our council tenants and value-for-money for taxpayers”.
